Shellfish Restoration and Enhancement Plan (SREP)

A Participatory Planning Process

The SREP will use a participatory planning process to co-develop a comprehensive plan to inform shellfish restoration and enhancement activities in Rhode Island. The stakeholder-driven, science-based approach will seek to align restoration and enhancement priorities with the needs of stakeholders, local communities, and managers by:

  • engaging stakeholders and partners to co-develop restoration and enhancement priorities and goals;

  • providing meaningful opportunities for input early and throughout the process;

  • recognizing and incorporating the complex social, ecological, and economic factors that comprise Rhode Island’s shellfish social-ecological system (SES);

  • building upon and leveraging partnerships, collaborations, and technical expertise; and

  • developing an outreach plan to maintain stakeholder support and provide opportunities for participation in restoration and enhancement activities.

The SREP planning process will have four primary phases:

Phase 1 - Process Development

  • Develop and refine the planning process and timeline(s), establish a steering committee and working groups, and identify gaps in information, representation, expertise, capacity, and funding.

Phase 2 - Information Collection and Analyses

  • Identify, collect, assemble, and analyze the social-ecological information that comprise the RI Shellfish SES to develop spatially specific restoration/enhancement goals and targets. This includes the collection of new information using online surveys and virtual and in-person meetings and workshops.

Phase 3 - Draft Plan

  • Develop a draft SREP document and obtain stakeholder feedback.

Phase 4 – Plan Finalization and Implementation

  • The finalized SREP will be published online. Once finalized, the SREP will remain a living document and will be updated as needed in response to new information.